Fly remover for doorways



P A. J. CARLSON FLY REMOVER FOR DOORWAYS Filed Sept. 4, 1936 .Carlson Gttomeg Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to fly removers or chasers and more particularly to a means which may be readily attached to a door for causing flies and analogous insects to move away from a screen door and the doorway opening in which said door is hung, prior to opening the door for the purpose of preventing said insects from entering a dwelling, store or a like building.

Another object of the invention 'is to provide means whereby a device for the said purposes may be carried upon and readily operated from either side of a closed screen door with equal facility, said means having an arrangement of parts such that a push rod employed cannot become positioned on a dead center, and to provide an off set portion on said push rod for maintaining it out of alignment at all times with a canopy frame employed.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for the purposes described which may be readily attached to any conventional door during the summer or insect season and readily removed therefrom with the advent of the winter season, the construction of said device to be of few and simple parts for comparatively inexpensive manufacturing cost, said parts being susceptible of ready assemblage in an emcient operative position which will not militate against the normal operation of the door or obstruct the door passageway.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device for the above stated purposes, the primary parts of which may be manufactured from a universal size of stock material susceptible of being assembled on a screen door with simple keepers, the latter also providing a hinge mounting for the device whereby manufacture and installation cost is reduced to a minimum.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and will be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawing wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention applied to a fragment of a screen door, the casing and doorway thereof showing in elevation.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of said door on a reduced scale and showing a portion of the new device applied thereto in a position of use.

Figure 3 is a transverse section of a push rod guide employed taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing for a more particular description the numeral I 0 indicates a doorway opening, the jams thereof being provided with conventional side rails H and a head casing 12. A screen door [3 is pivotally secured to one of the side rails II by means of spring hinges l4 whereby the opening II! is normally maintained closed by the door.

The door l3 may be provided with a medially disposed style or rail [5 on which may be mounted a push rod guide plate l3 having an aperture I! provided through an offsetportion 18 thereof, said offset extending downwardly and inclinedly from the aperture of the plate to the interior side thereof for purposes later described.

The fly remover of the present invention also. ..i

includes an elongated shaft !9 which is preferably formed of galvanized steel wire, being provided at one of its ends'with threads 21] for receiving' nuts 2| thereon and a head 22 having a screw driver bit slot.

The shaft l9 extends through screw eyes 23, three thereof being preferably employed as shown in Figure 1, said eyes providing a pivotal mounting for said shaft and also providing a pivotal mounting forthe arms 24 and 25.

The arms 24 are formed integral with respect to each otherand also with respect to a rod 26 which is spaced away from the shaft l9 an adequate distance by -means' of the arms 24 for purposes later described. The end of each arm 24 terminates in an eye 21, through which the shaft 19 is received for pivotally mounting the arms 24 and the rod 26 on said shaft. The arms 25 are similarly provided with eyes 28 for said purpose, said arms 25 being each provided with a looped portion 29 which extends downwardly beyond the rod. 26, being bent and returned toward said rod during the manufacture thereof, at which time each are twisted helically, as indicated at 30, together with and about the rod 26 for stiffening the latter, the terminal ends of said twists being closely adjacent to the arms 24. A removable bolt 3| extends through the loops 29 of the arms 25. An eye portion 32 of an operating rod 33 is pivotally mounted on the bolt 3!, the member 33 extending from the bolt downwardly with respect to the door to and through the aperture ll of said plate, said rod being extended through the plate IS a sufiicient distance for facilitating a later described operation. The guide plate [6 is preferably secured to the door l3 by means of screws or similar keepers 34, the offset 18 of the plate permitting the rod 33 to be positioned and operated in approximate alignment with the plate and permitting the employment of an aperture I! which is of the same diameter as the diameter of the rod 33 for filling said aperture and preventing flies from passing through said aperture of the plate l6.

An operating handle 35 is threaded or otherwise secured to the terminal end of the member 33, said knob or handle 35 being disposed on the inner side of the door and a handle 36 is provided on the outerside of the door and carried by the member 33 as shown in Figure 1. Preferably the handle 36 is formed by twisting the rod 33.

The upper end of the rod 33 is provided with an offset portion 31 which preventsthe rod 33 from becoming in alignment with the arms 25 at times when said arms or the canopy frame is in a down position.

A foraminous canopy 38 is provided which preferably is looped over the shaft I9. The oppositely disposed sides of the canopy 38 extend over and beyond the rod 26 and are secured to the device by means of stitching or any suitable means indicated at 39 whereby the twists 30 together with the rod 26 are disposed therebetween. The portion of the canopy 38 which extends from the shaft l 9 to the rod 23 is normally maintained in alignment with the arms 24 by means of said stitching and said canopy is provided with a portion 49 which extends beyond the rod 26 any suitable desired distance or to any selected extent, said portion 40 being free to have movements as later described.

It is well known that insects and particularly flies congregate about a doorway particularly adjacent the head casing thereof whereby flies which are in said locations are more apt to enter a dwelling than flies adjacent other portions of a door jamb and it being desirable to disturb the flies before opening a door, the operator, assuming he is on the exterior of the dwelling and desiring to enter thereinto, upon approaching the door l3 grasps the twist handle 36 or the reach rod 33 and manually moves it rapidly and reciprocatingly in a vertical direction, causing the canopy 38, together with its extension 40 to have corresponding movements which cause the flies to move away from the door, said portion 40 being particularly effective for said purpose.

It will be noted that a person approaching the door from the interior of the dwelling may with equal facility operate the device by moving its.

handle 35 up and down in a vertical direction and that the device being of few and simple parts may be readily installed in a position of use upon a door by a person having practically no skill in the handling of tools,

The threads 20 of the shaft l9 extend along the shaft to a suflicient extent such that when the nuts 2| are tightened, while the shaft I9 is held with a screw driver applied to the head 22 of said shaft, that the nut 2| and head 22 do not bind against the screw eyes 23, thereby permitting free swinging movements of the canopy, it being desirable that when the device is installed that the screw eyes 23 at each end of the shaft [9 be spaced apart an accurate distance for permitting the installation of a free-swinging can- .opy upon a door.

Preferably the guide plate 16 is so positioned with respect to the vertical rail I5 of the door that the plate I6 is disposed at one side of said rail, a hole being punched through the screen for the reception of the rod 33, said plate [6 covering said screen adjacent the hole.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modi-' fications being restricted only by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A fly remover for doorways, comprising a canopy and frame hingedly mounted on the outer side of a screen door adjacent to the top thereof, said frame made of heavy wire twisted together and extending the length of the canopy, and provided with looped portions, a guide plate having an aperture and secured to the medial rail of said door, a push rod provided at its upper end with an offset portion pivotally connected with said looped portions and extending downwardly through said aperture and said door, said push rod provided with handles, one on either side of.

the aperture whereby the canopy frame may be operated by reciprocating said push rod.

ANDREW J. CARLSON. 

